Animal Geography and Wildlife Interpretation of Urban Bats
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ANIMAL GEOGRAPHY AND WILDLIFE INTERPRETATION OF URBAN BATS A Thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In Geography: Resource Management and Environmental Planning by Jill Flaningam Miller San Francisco, California August 2016 Copyright by Jill Flaningam Miller 2016 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read Animal Geography and the Wildlife Interpretation of Urban Bats by Jill Flaningam Miller, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts in Geography: Resource Management and Environmental Planning at San Francisco State University. Nancy Lee Wilkinson, Professor Geography & Environment Jennifer Blecha, Assistant Professor Geography & Environment ANIMAL GEOGRAPHY AND WILDLIFE INTERPRETATION OF URBAN BATS Jill Flaningam Miller San Francisco, California 2016 Despite the imaginary geography of urban space that locates wildlife bodies far beyond city limits, wild animals do persist in urban backyards, buildings and parks. Spontaneous encounters with urban wildlife rupture the imagined boundaries between urban and wild, potentially either remaking cities into more humane and more-than-human spaces or leading to energized calls for the expulsion of wild animals from urban areas where they are largely considered out of place. Animal geographers have articulated theories necessary to shift beyond anthropocentric attitudes supporting the expulsion of wildlife from cities, but praxis “in the field” – that field being society at large – is essential if the concepts promoted by geographers are to have impact in the public sphere. Environmental interpreters are well-suited for this task as their objective is to introduce new ways of perceiving the world through thematic presentations and field-based experiences. To demonstrate the compatibility between the fields of animal geography and environmental interpretation, this paper outlines the development of a model urban wildlife interpretation program on the subject of bats living in Oakland’s Sausal Creek watershed. Bats are a particularly charismatic subject because of their enduring cultural construction as transgressive creatures. In the appendices are ready-to-use program materials for an interpretative slide show and bat walk. I certify that the abstract is a correct representation of the content of this thesis. Chair, Thesis Committee Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you so much to those who have inspired and encouraged me to complete this project: my advisors Nancy Wilkinson and Jen Blecha, my husband Matthew, the bats. Entanglements with you do, indeed, make this world more interesting – and hopeful, kind and joyous. I couldn’t have it any other way. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. ix Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Part I: Theoretical Foundations Literature Review: Animal Geography …………………………………………..3 Urban Wildlife Interpretation: Animal Geography Praxis ………………………17 Conceptual Nodes of Animal Geography and Environmental Interpretation …...19 Part II: Model Urban Wildlife Interpretation Programs Bats: Borderlands Wildlife Interpretation Subject ………………………………26 Urban Interpretation Site: Sausal Creek Watershed, Oakland, CA ……………..39 Mediated Representation: Interpretive Slide Show Program Overview ………...43 Embodied Encounter: Interpretive Bat Walk Program Overview ………………45 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………47 References ……………………………………………………………………………….49 Appendix 1: Slide Show Presentation with Notes ……………………………………....63 Appendix 2: Interpretive Bat Walk …………………………………………………….130 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Charisma typology .........................................................................................9 2. Conceptual nodes ....................................................................................20-21 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 1. Nightwing movie poster ...................................................................................28 2. Daily Mail news article ....................................................................................29 3. Rabies brochure, Sonoma County Department of Health Services ................ 30 4. Bat faces ..........................................................................................................32 5. Merlin Tuttle photography ...............................................................................33 6. Bat call spectrogram ........................................................................................33 7. Altruistic birthing behavior .............................................................................35 8. WNS occurrences, May 2016 ..........................................................................37 9. Sausal Creek watershed ...................................................................................40 viii LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Page 1. Slide Show Presentation ......................................................................................41 2. Interpretive Bat Walk Outline …........................................................................ 42 ix 1 Introduction Cities are animal-human spaces. Despite their perceived invisibility in urban areas, wild animals persist and sometimes thrive in our backyards, buildings and parks. Spontaneous encounters with urban wildlife rupture the imagined boundaries between urban and wild, potentially remaking cities into more humane and more-than-human spaces. Without a shift of dominant perspectives and values, however, wildlife encounters may also lead to an energized call for the expulsion of wild animals from urban areas where they are largely considered out of place. A post-humanist reimagining of urban space must be made available to the general public so that the presence of wildlife is interpreted as positive. Embodied and mediated encounters with urban wildlife present opportunities to move past ingrained anthropocentric ideologies for the purpose of contemplating non-human perspectives in what may be considered the most human of spaces. Through observation and interaction with wildlife, space that was formerly perceived as ordinary is transformed into a more alive, diverse and ultimately interesting place to be. This, in turn, may inspire advocacy and a collective willingness to consider wild animals’ needs when making urban land-use decisions. Theorists and practitioners are both needed in the endeavor to revitalize our cities. Animal geographers and scholars in fields including anthropology and philosophy have provided the theoretical architecture necessary to support a widespread shift beyond anthropocentric attitudes, design and policy. Praxis “in the field” – that field being society at large – is essential if the concepts articulated by theorists are to have impact in the public sphere. Environmental interpreters are well-suited for this task as their objective is to engage lay audiences in appreciation of place through situated activities that heighten intellectual and sensory perceptions. By designing thematic presentations and field-based experiences that introduce new ways of perceiving the world, interpreters become agents of popular diffusion for ideas forwarded by academics and researchers. As environmental interpreters help bring people into greater intimacy with wildlife, they 2 promote a less anthropocentric notion of community in which our most colorful and fascinating neighbors are the non-human ones. This paper explores the practical application of animal geography through an environmental interpretation program on bats in Oakland, California. Part I provides the theoretical foundations for this project: a review of literature followed by presentation of “conceptual nodes” of intersecting concepts from animal geography and environmental interpretation to illustrate compatibility between the two fields. Part II outlines the development of a model urban wildlife interpretation program on the subject of bats living in Oakland’s Sausal Creek watershed. In the appendices are ready-to-use program materials for an interpretative slide show and bat walk. 3 PART I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS Literature Review: Animal Geography Hyperseparation from the Animal Other The Western idealization of nature as a bounded entity existing separate from human culture is informed by a dualistic ontology employed since the age of classical Greece to legitimize social-political hierarchies (Haraway 1985; Plumwood 1993; Baker 2001: Whatmore 2002). Operationalization of the nature/culture binary into the unambiguous, fundamentally opposed categories of animal/human have long enabled human domination over both animals and humans considered to be animal-like (Philo 1998; Wolch 1998; Brownlow 2000; Griffiths, Poulter and Sibley 2000; Castree 2001; Castree and Nash 2006). Extreme polarization of binary entities results is what Plumwood terms “hyperseparation” (1993). In hyperseparation, the boundary between